Norton says won’t disclose if Ali said Guyana would get foreign military assistance to respond to Venezuela

Last Updated on Friday, 7 March 2025, 23:00 by Writer

Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton was Friday unwilling to disclose whether or not President Irfaan Ali assured him that Guyana’s strategic partners have promised military assistance should neighbouring Venezuela continue its incursions into this country’s sea and airspaces.

“Even if we had discussed that, I would not come to you in the public domain to say this person would support us or that person would support us. I’m not saying we discussed it but I’m saying to you even if we had discussed it, I don’t think it would be my place to do that because it would come from confidential sources and you could very well be compromising whatever exists,” he told a news conference.

While Mr Norton defended his decision to meet with Dr Ali last Saturday in the country’s national interest after the Venezuelan military patrol vessel entered Guyana’s exclusive economic zone and communicated with a number of floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels and other vessels in the Stabroek Block, he declined to say whether foreign military assistance would be provided in future.

“I’m not saying even if it was discussed, I don’t believe it would be right for me, if the President reposed confidence in me on certain issues, to come out here and say ‘X’ or ‘Y’ agreed to support us,” Mr Norton, a former Foreign Service Officer, added.

He said that after discussions between his delegation and that of President Ali, the two of them held bilateral discussions alone. “We spoke first with the group that I carried and he and I also spoke personally. As Leader of the Opposition I am obligated to only disclose that which is needed to be public,” he said.

The Opposition Leader urged government to equip the Guyana Defence Force, intensify training of soldiers in jungle warfare to repel the enemy until assistance becomes available, and mobilise support on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy from Latin American and African countries. Mr Norton also said there needs to be an aggressive public awareness and education campaign on border issues, meetings of the bipartisan parliamentary foreign relations committee and the establishment of a Border Commission beyond the political parties.

Hours after the incursion began at about 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, 2025, the United States government issued a statement warning Venezuela that any such future action would result in “consequences” but no details were provided. France and the United Kingdom also reiterated their solidarity with Guyana. The operator in the Stabroek Block is the US supermajor, ExxonMobil, which produces 650,000 barrels per day of light sweet crude.

Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro earlier this week called Dr Ali, ‘The Zelensky of the Caribbean’ – comparing the Guyanese leader to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky who has been resisting Russia’s invasion and claim to Kyiv’s territory. He also restated that Venezuela would take action against what he regarded as the illegal occupation of Venezuela’s waters that are in dispute and yet to be delimited.